There Has To Be A Place... For Lost Causes

Crossing family for thankful to be a church.

They let me hear a whoop-whoop. I have been looking forward to

getting together and being with you all week long.

It is so nice to be able to kind of pull ourselves out of our

circumstances and kind of lift our eyes from the lower story,

fix our eyes, on the upper story of what God can do and what God

can redeem. And I am so glad that you're

here today here at 48th Street at all of our different

locations. And of course, those of you

watching online and inside on the front end, I want to make a

couple of announcements. First one is next weekend on

this stage. Jerry Harris will be back and

he'll be preaching. He's my wife's favorite preacher

and so when he gets back it's going to be a great time.

If you're excited to have Jerry back.

Put your hands together, it's gonna be good.

He's going to be closing out this sermon series, and the

sermon that he's going to be preaching, is there has to be a

place that gives people truth. And in a world that is full of

shifting sand and all kinds of challenges.

We got to have something to hold on to.

We have to have something to cling to and I can't think of

anybody. You better to bring that word

than Jerry and I can't think of any better truth in the truth of

God's word. The second thing I want to make

you aware of is on Super Bowl weekend.

We are going to have an incredible service planned at

all of our different locations Jerry and I are switching it up

a little bit this year. It's gonna be something new.

We haven't done this before. We actually brought somebody in,

we interviewed them. I don't want to tell you who

they are, but I am rooting hard for the Chiefs to win today, and

they are going to be sharing. A story we got to meet with them

this week an absolutely incredible person and a truly

touched by just the way that they interacted their love for

the Lord. And I think you guys are going

to be absolutely blessed. The second thing we're going to

be doing and we're going to be doing this at all of our

locations is we are going to be celebrating and coming along

side of all of our communities schools and their Sports

programs and after-school activities.

How many of you when you were in high school or Junior?

Hi. You were a part of choir.

Show choir jazz band band. Football basketball wrestling,

baseball volleyball, all the sports cheerleading.

Yeah. Okay, how many of you you had a

great time with those directors. And those coaches, they invest

in you, they helped shape who you are parents.

You get this. You are not the only voice that

your kid is hearing. You are not the only voice that

they respect. Sometimes you're like, they

don't respect my voice at all, and you are Super thankful for

good. Godly coaches teachers and

directors. And what we want to do is a

church is we want to come alongside of them and we want to

celebrate them that weekend. So here are a couple things that

we're going to be doing to celebrate them one.

We're going to be doing, I believe are the largest giveaway

in our Church's history because we've committed to giving 25,000

dollars a way we could give up to 50,000 dollars away that

weekend. And here's how we're going to do

that forever. We're going to we've already

been talking to all the different school systems and

their after-school activities. Going to have a chance to

register. And then what we're going to do

is we're going to give you guys all the chance to vote and for

you, you get to pick. Hey, I am a part of this school

and this is the activity that we really love, or my kids really

love and however, many people pick that one.

They're going to get five bucks. We're going to be donating $5 on

behalf of every single person who attends to whatever it is

that you choose. And our hope in that is that

it's going to be an incredible encouragement to our schools

because they've had a rough two years.

Would you guys agree. Second thing is we want to

change the narrative. If churches are known for taking

money but they're not necessarily known for giving it

away. And so we want to kind of flip

the script on that. We're not doing it because we're

flush with cash. We're doing it because we love

our communities. We want them to love Jesus and

we're going to do everything in our power to make that a

reality. Is that deal with you?

Okay? Great.

Now, what I want you guys to do is I want you to pray or and

we're going to price, would you stand up real quick?

This is going to get deep quick, so I'm sorry for the rough

transition. But even though I have those

announcements stuff, this is something I really wanted us to

pray for all across our region. Don't put your hand up yet.

Let me just talk to you first. Okay, we've been praying for

different groups of people and if you're brand new to our

church, this might freak you out a little bit.

Just know you're surrounded by just unbelievably awesome people

and you're going to see that in just a second.

The specific group of people that I want to pray for is I

want to pray for people who are battling addiction depression,

anxiety, mental health, challenges eating disorders,

self-harm and suicidal thoughts. And I don't want to just pray

for for those people for you, but I also want to pray for

those of you who are on a journey with somebody who's

struggling in one of those areas because I know that there can be

an awful lot of weight that you end up carrying through that

process. You have a lot of worry because

of their anxiety or their challenges in the last two

years, we've seen a huge spike in all of those areas that I

just mentioned. We know it's hard.

We know that it can be heartbreaking and we know that

it can be exhausting. And so whether you are

experiencing them personally or somebody that you care about is,

we know that sometimes these situations can feel hopeless.

So real quick, if you are either battling these things or you are

doing life with somebody, Because battling things, maybe

you're a friend, a co-worker, a parent, a brother, or sister, a

grandparent. Would you guys just raise your

hand at all of our different locations?

Okay? Now what we're going to do is

we're going to pray for you and if you're going, I don't want

anybody to come over and get any closer to me because the cove

and stuff like that, I completely understand.

But if you would like someone to come and put their hand on you

and pray with you leave your hand up.

People on our church, our difference-maker staffing.

People are going to move around when someone puts their hand on

your shoulder. Go ahead and put your hand down

if You're a super strong Christian and your have your

hand up, but you're seeing that somebody else has their hand up

to, would you go and find that hand?

Put your hand on their shoulder, so we can pray for him.

I'm seeing a couple people in the back over there.

Campus pastors, if you need to kind of direct traffic at your

location because I want to make sure we pray for some people

today. Okay.

All right, while you're there, before you start praying, let me

give you three. Verses pay attention to me

because these verses are life-changing versus one first.

1 Peter 5:7

Peter 5:7. It says, cast all your anxiety

on him him as God because he cares for you.

You can give him all of your worries, all of your fears, all

of your pain, all of your cares to God, because he cares about

you. How do I know that he cares

about you? Because he's got holes in his

hands. How do I know that?

He cares about you? Because he God, sent his son,

Jesus to die on the cross, for your sins, and for my sins for

your pain, your struggles, he came for those.

You need to know that when you're praying to God, you're

praying to a God who cares second thing.

Psalm 99 says the Lord is a refuge for the A stronghold in

times of trouble, and if you were to go through the list of

things that I just mentioned, you would say that sounds like

trouble. Doesn't it?

And I want you to know that in your troubles, you can cling to

Jesus. He is a stronghold that will

never let you down. Here's the most important one,

Romans chapter 8. No, in all things we are more

Romans 8 · chapter mention

than conquerors through him. Who loved us for?

I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels,

nor demons, neither the present, nor the future nor any powers

neither height nor Dep or anything else in all of creation

will be able to separate us from the love of God.

That is in Christ. Jesus, our lord.

I know, right now those of you who are battling this, you could

be tempted to say, God doesn't love me because I'm wrestling

with this. God doesn't love me.

And those of you who are part of this church and your loving

people who are in that, I need you to be able to look them in

the eye. I need.

You be able to pull out Romans ER, 8 and say, you need to know

that nothing can separate and nothing can stop God from loving

you. That is hope that every single

person needs and it's a hope that every single one of us

should share, would you guys pray with me?

Heavenly Father, Right now, I know that I'm praying a prayer

that is stretching over 10,000 square miles and I cannot even

imagine how many people are hurting.

God, I know that there are a lot of people that feel like their

situation is hopeless, but there's no way out.

I know there's some people that are just tired and worn out from

the long battle on the long journey.

And God, I pray that you would make your presence known to them

that you would confirm in their spirit that you love them that

you care about them and that you are close and that you will not

leave them and you will not abandon them.

Help us as a church to be people.

Care. And are your hands and your feet

in those situations. Give us a wisdom to know what to

say. And when to say it and how to

say it in Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

God bless you guys. Would you have a seat?

Well, we're in a sermon series called there has to be a place

Week 1. We said there has to be a place

for everyone and it's going to take every one of us to make

that happen. And we looked at this spiritual

Spectrum. And we realized that we have an

obligation and a responsibility to everybody on this Continuum

to those who are far from Jesus and to those who've been

following Jesus for a really long time.

And we also recognize that we have a spiritual obligation to

our region and that our hope is to make this region and whatever

God grows it to be the hardest place on planet Earth to get the

hell from that many years from now multiple Generations from

now. People would say I was fortunate

enough to be born in a The they had a church that believe that

God could change things that there would make a place a home

where anybody was welcomed. And if anybody could find Jesus

and then we talked about there has to be a place that gives

people time and that sometimes we acknowledge this truth that

we can get frustrated because it takes longer than we would like

for people to grow in their relationship with.

Jesus are fine. Jesus and we committed as a

church that we're going to be a place that's going to continue

to give and love and serve. Serve and care and pray for

people until they find their relationship with Jesus.

We want to give them the time. They need, we're going to be

patient with them because we recognize that Jesus has been

abundantly patient with us. And then we talked about there

has to be a place for Water Walkers for people to take their

steps of faith. And we want to root for them and

cheer for them and celebrate them and encourage them on that

Journey. But we also recognized that we

can't cheer for people from Boat that it's only after we take our

Steps of Faith that we're able to turn around and encourage

other people to take theirs. And then last week, we talked

about there has to be a place that tells people, it's not over

that while we may fail our failures, do not have to be

final that we learned about Jesus and that we serve a Jesus

who went set walked 70 miles out of his way to cook breakfast on

a beach for a guy who betrayed him.

And that there has to be a place that reaches out.

And restores people that proudly proclaims, that when Jesus is in

the story, the story isn't over today.

My sermon is called there has to be a place for lost causes turn

to your neighbor. Say lost causes There has to be

a place for lost causes. I'm guessing.

That just a couple of moments ago when I asked you to raise

your hands. some of you that raised your hand, you feel like

a lost cause you feel like, because of everything that

you've been through and everything that you're going

through, But there's not much to look forward to. you think that

if the people around you could use a phrase to describe you,

they might, they might whisper, they're a lost cause maybe

you're a person who's been journeying with somebody for a

really long time. and while you don't say it to him publicly and

while you still hop in your car and drive over when they need

it, there's times where you just feel like the situation that

you're in is a bit of a lost cause And so on the outset of

this message, I want to tell you my my desire is today, I'll my

hope is to give you hope. Is to rekindle a belief in you

that when Jesus is in the picture, there's no such thing

as lost causes that when Jesus enters the scene, everything can

change. Today, we're going to look at a

story of what happens when Jesus encounters a lost.

Cause tell me if you think that this guy sounds like a lost.

Cause Mark, chapter 5 verse 1 through 5, then they went across

Mark 5:1–5

the lake member, we've been talking about there has to be a

place to the Region of the gerasenes when Jesus got out of

the boat. A man, with an impure Spirit, if

you look at this in the original language and depending on what

Bible you use, they would say he's demon-possessed, okay?

So this is a pretty soft rendering.

He's he's he's got it. He's demon-possessed came from

the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs and

no one could bind him anymore. So he's been tied up.

What's he been tied up with not even with the chain.

For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he toured the

chains apart and broke the irons on his feet.

No one was strong enough to subdue him night and day among

the tombs and in the Hills, he would cry out and cut himself

with stones. Do you feel the pain of this

moment? I mean, if you are just reading

through this, would you have read through it so fast that you

wouldn't have allowed it to sink in.

Can we take just a little bit of time?

And just explore what it would have been like to be this guy.

I mean, what was it? What was he like, before this

moment? Can you see him?

Can you see him playing in the dirt as a small child?

Can you see the smile on his face?

As he learned to ride a bike with his father?

Can you see his cheeks? Get red as he experiences his

first crush? Did he excel at sports?

Or did he have a gifted mind for learning?

What was he like when he was a boy?

Parents, you've been there? You remember that there is this

day where your kids would come down and you would talk them and

they still have their baby voice.

And then one day they came downstairs and they talk to you

and it was gone and you didn't know it was gone until you watch

an old video and you hear it parents.

Do you remember what it was like when your kids?

I'd still give you a kiss on the lips before they headed off to

school but one day you kissed him and that was the last time

that you got a kiss, but you didn't know.

It was the last time when you gave it, What was it like to be

this guy? And now he's something

different. I mean, he possesses

Supernatural strength, but not the kind of strength that's used

to help people. It's the kind of strength that's

used for Destruction. His once baby soft.

Skin is now. Tarnished with the marks of him,

cutting himself with stones, his four arms and legs are a

tattered mess telling the story of a life of pain and suffering.

Can you see the people who tried to bind him?

This is a small town. We get small towns.

Who were the people that tried to bind him?

Was that the very same guys that he went to homecoming and prom

with? Who were the his former

classmates was at the ones that he hung out with after school

that had to try and put the irons around his feet.

This wasn't some unknown face. This was somebody that they grew

up with that. They skipped rocks on the very

Shores, that Jesus docked on. Can You Feel It?

Do you see his parents, the one small child that they held in

their hands and dreamed about what his future would be?

Would he take over the family business or what he venture out

on his own? Did he marry somebody?

Oh, he wasn't this way when he got down on one knee.

But over time, he became the sky.

Does she? They have kids?

Is the son picked on at school because he doesn't excel at

sports because he doesn't know how to play the game like

everybody else because he's never had a dad around to show

him. What's the daughter like Does

she moved from relationship with one guy to a relationship with

another guy to a relationship with another guy?

Desperately trying to fill the hole in her heart, that should

have been filled by a father, What's it like at Christmas

does? The mom give them presents from

dad even though they know that dad's not around.

Did she tell him? What happened or does she keep

it a secret? What's it like for this guy and

his family late at night? Do they turn on the sound

machine? Do they get a box fan and turn

it on high to create as much white noise as possible to make

sure that they don't hear the cries of their father, as they

try to go to sleep. Because night and day, he cries

out from the tombs. if there was ever a lost cause I think this

guy was it. If you and I were to chart this

guy on the spiritual Spectrum. Where would you put him?

I mean I think we can all agree. He's not a minus one.

Probably not a -3. If I were to say -5 some of you

would go Clayton. That's way too.

Conservative, where would you place him at this point in the

story on the spiritual Continuum, I'm guessing most of

us would put him off screen because let's just admit this

guy's a lost cause Let's keep reading in the text.

What happens next when he, this is the demon-possessed man saw

Jesus from a distance way off. He ran and fell on his knees in

front of him. He shouted at the top of his

voice. What do you want with me?

Jesus, Son of the most high God in God's name.

Don't torture me. For Jesus had said to him come

out of this man. You impure Spirit then Jesus

asked him, what is your name? My name is Legion.

He replied for. We are many Now, we found

ourselves in a spiritual standoff.

On one side, we have Jesus, Son of God, most high.

Who's the one who says this? What's the demon-possessed, man?

Well, how did the demon-possessed man know who

Jesus was? Well, it's because, you know,

this in your Bible and James chapter 2, it says even demons,

James 2 · chapter mention

believe that there is one God and they shudder at the thought

of it, the demons know exactly who's in the presence.

It's everybody else who's trying to catch up.

So you have Jesus on one side and then on the other side, you

have this man who's possessed by a legion of demons, which is an

odd thing to say, Allegiant is a military number.

It's this used to describe a Detachment of 6,000 soldiers.

So are there a thousand demons in this man?

Or is we just trying to go? There's lots of demons.

It appears. I'm just being honest, that

Jesus is outmatched. I mean, maybe maybe Jesus could

do something. If it was one.

Jesus verse one demon Or maybe one Jesus verse a couple smaller

demons. The odds are not in his favor.

This is one. Jesus first thousands of demons

if there was ever a lost cause this had to be it, this guy's

finally in the presence of Jesus, but Jesus is so vastly

outnumbered This guy's a lost cause and everybody can see it.

Let's keep going and he begged Jesus again and again not to

send him out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding

on the nearby Hillside, the demons begged Jesus send us

among the pigs allow us to go into them.

He gave them permission and the impure Spirits.

The demons came out of the man and went into the pigs.

The heard about two thousand in number rushed down the Steep

Bank into the lake and were drowned.

Now pause for just a second, we've been given a bunch of

numbers in this story. We were given a legion that's

6,000. And then we were given a group

of pigs about 2,000. So it's reasonable to believe

that all of the pigs have the exact same effect.

As soon as they experience the demon, they ran off the hills

and they died. So, I think it's safe to say

that there were at least two thousand demons that had taken

up residence in this man's life. Let's just say, it was a real

number of 6,000 and each Pig got three demons.

There's a lot of math for this early in the morning.

I get it. Look what happens to the pigs?

The moment three demons interim that run down the bank.

They jump into the water and they drown and die.

And this man has had all of those demons Waging War in his

life. For, who knows, how long if

there was ever a lost cause this was it.

Well let's keep going. Those tending to pigs.

Ran off and reported this in the town and the countryside.

Well this would be big news. If 2000 pigs showed up dead in

any of our communities today. There'll be an awful lot of

news. I mean I'll be right there in

the middle of it with my smoker I would have been right there.

Like this is a tragedy, I'm hoping one happens in a couple

weeks, okay? And the people went out to see

what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they

saw the man who this is past tense.

For those of you like, English had been possessed by the Legion

of demons sitting there. Dressed.

And in his right mind and they were afraid, This man had an

encounter with the Son of God, and now all the people are

seeing him sitting there. Remember our previous

descriptions here, and about night and day among the tombs.

Now, he's just sitting there, he's not cutting himself, he's

not Breaking Chains, he's under control.

They see him dressed. Luke goes that this man had not

worn clothes in a long time. He just ran about the tombs

naked. Furthermore, he's in his right

mind, he's no longer running around the tombs.

Crying out, cutting himself, he's sitting there dressed and

in his right mind, something had happened to him.

Something had gone on. He had been changed.

He had been made new. It was almost as if second

2 Corinthians 5:17

Corinthians 5:17. If anyone is in Christ there, a

new creation and the oldest. On.

And the new has come. He's interacted with somebody

who specializes in lost causes. Oh, that's right.

He met Jesus. And Jesus loves lost causes and

Jesus specializes in lost causes.

And if I were to be honest with you, and I think if you were to

be honest with me, we would agree that there are a lot of

lost causes in our communities. There are a lot of people that

we would not not publicly and definitely not a church that we

would call lost causes and I'm here to tell you that there has

to be a place for lost causes. And I'm saying that place should

be right here right now and it should be with us.

It means that they're going to be people welcomed into the

different doors that are different locations that you

don't like and you don't agree with and they're going to be

people that you see here that have hurt you and have wronged

you but the one who hurt you and wronged, you maybe hasn't met

Jesus. Just yet there still - there's

still - 5 or whatever you would classify him as there, might be

a person that comes to this church that you are praying to

God that they would leave you alone and I need you to know.

That's fine. I just need to know that there's

other people praying to God, that they would be saved.

There has to be a place. That means that Jerry or myself

or campus pastors are different staff.

Might hang out with people that frustrate you because of who

they are, how they are but I'm telling you there has to be a

place for lost causes because I was a lost cause you see me

standing here in front of you. Dressed.

Thank you. Jennifer and in my right mind,

mostly, and every week you let me come up and I get to talk to

you about Jesus. Because what you're seeing is

you're seeing a snapshot of me after Jesus got a hold of me,

but I didn't date your daughter in high school.

I didn't run with your son in high school.

You want the police officer that picked me up?

That's not who you are. You just know me after Jesus.

and if you had a place to bet on me before Jesus got ahold out of

me, you do lost And I'm willing to wager that if somebody placed

a bet on you before Jesus got a hold of you they do lost to

there, has to be a place that looks at people, in their pre

Jesus and has an imagination about what they could be post.

Jesus. Because when Jesus gets ahold of

somebody, there's no such thing as a lost cause look what

happens. Those who had seen it.

Told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed

man and told about the pigs as well.

Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their

region. These people don't want to be

around. Let's keep going.

As Jesus was getting into the boat.

The man who had been demon-possessed begged to go

with him. Jesus did not let him but said,

go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has

done for you and how he has had mercy on you.

So the man went away and began to tell in the decapolis, that's

the 10 cities. How much Jesus had done for him

and all the people were amazed. All the man wanted to do after

Jesus had rescued him. It's just stay with Jesus.

Can you blame him? Isn't that kind of what you want

to do from time to time it happens every year at camp with

our kids. They go there and they have such

an incredible experience and they'll say things to the small

group leader. I just wish I could stay here

and sometimes you guys have that experience that are different

locations. You like I just wish they'd sing

another worship song when Jerry's preaching.

Like I wish there was just another sermon, if we could just

stay here a little bit longer because listen, it is great to

be in The Fellowship of Christians.

It's great to be around. People who love you and who love

the Lord, but that's not why we exist.

We exist to take our story and go out into the world and tell

people what can happen when Jesus gets a hold of him.

And that's exactly what he did. That man went and he told his

story, he lived out his testimony in front of the very

people that they saw, right? That testimony, when you met

this guy on the spiritual Spectrum.

When we were looking at him, Where would you have placed him

before he met Jesus? Well, he meets Jesus he wants to

stay with Jesus, but Jesus sends him out.

And the next time Jesus comes to that Region, 4 thousand people

show up and they get fed by Jesus, how did that region go

from one dude, in a region where they said, get away from us?

Jesus to the next time he comes back?

There's 4,000 people ready to hear the word of God.

How does that happen? I'll tell you Like I was a lost

cause now, where would you place in now, where would you place

the guy who brings 4,000 people, to the feet of Jesus?

Where would you put him on this spiritual Continuum if you're a

three Maybe. Maybe we shouldn't spend so much

time. Looking at how lost a cause

might be and start thinking about how big our Jesus is.

When he enters a situation or a person who is a lost cause there

has to be a place for lost causes there has to be a place

for lost causes so they can be loved and cared for until they

become face to face with Jesus. There has to be a place that

helps them turn their lives around and then sends them out

to share what God can do with a person.

Just like them. if you would have, if you were like me, you

would have put him at -1000. But when Jesus got a hold of

him, there was no stopping him. I don't just think that that's

true for that man. I know it's true and me and I

know it's true in some of you and there's not a person that is

listening to the sound of my voice that God, can't redeem

repurpose and restore. You are not a lost cause as long

as Jesus is Alive, and we know that Jesus is Alive.

We also know he's coming back. We want to help you get ready

for that. We're moving to a time of

decision. There are some of you in here

today that you've never started an intimate personal

relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, I just need you to hear me

say this. When Jesus is in the picture,

there's no such thing as a lost cause there's no situation, no

circumstance, no challenge that he can't overcome.

And I know that for some of you in here, you're going Clayton, I

get it. But you just don't know how lost

I am. And I just need you to know

you're right. But you don't know how jacked up

the people of that you're sitting next to really are.

You don't know how messed up the people in your row really are

because you're just seeing there.

After Jesus life, you don't know the depths of their pre Jesus

life. You don't know how much that he

can redeem and restore and repurpose and reuse because

maybe we owe you an apology. And we haven't shared the depths

of our pre Jesus life. And you might be sitting there

going man, Clayton. I hear that but I mean I'm a

really, I'm a really bad person and I've done really, really bad

things and I just need you to know.

Yeah, that's the room, you're in.

That all of us have sinned, all of us have fallen fallen short

and continue to fall short. but it's Jesus, that changes it and

redeems, it and I would hate for you to be in this room or

watching online and believing that the good news of Jesus is

good for everybody, but you Because the real power of Jesus

is when you realize it's for you.

That when he comes into your life, everything can change.

And I've said this a ton of times here and I'm just going to

keep saying it. I know you think that if I just

need to get a couple more things figured out and then I'll say

yes to Jesus. I just got to fix a couple

things on my end. I just need you to hear me.

They call him the demoniac in the scriptures.

Here's what he would have said, if he was you, I just got to get

these demons down to like 5,000. 998, then maybe Jesus can 6000.

She's too much. He's like, you know what, if I

can just get, if I could just get down to four thousand

demons. Maybe then Jesus could I got to

do my part. I maybe, if I could get, if I

can Whittle these demons down, if I could just get rid of these

issues down to, like 2,500, you know, that'd be great less than

half. What would you say to him?

What would you say to the guy? Who's like, I've only got one

demon. I don't even need Jesus.

No, you'd look at that guy and go one demon, that's all you

got. But you can't get rid of it.

You can't shake it on your own power because you and I can't

fix sin. We can't no matter how big or

how small you think it is, you can't fix it, which is why God

sent Jesus on your behalf. So whether you send a lot or a

little, every single one of us equally needed the grace, that

was provided to us through. Jesus Christ on the cross and

you can have it, and you can experience it and you can place

it in your heart today. And if you want it, it's just a

few moments. There are people here.

That would love to answer some of the questions that you have

and they're going to be right over there by the baptistry.

When the people around you stand up.

I want you to seriously think about coming up here and get

talking to them and start that relationship to the rest of you

in the room. I want to talk to you about two

different groups one. I know that some of you you're

dealing with it, your journey with somebody and it's hard

right now. I just need you to remember

that. Jesus is bigger than anything

that they face. Do not lose, hope do not be

discouraged. He is ever present.

He is the helper you've always wanted and he can supply more

than you could ever imagine. Don't give up the person.

You are walking with is not a lost cause they just haven't met

the full power of Jesus yet, and God might be using you.

Yeah, you yeah. You to be Jesus to them.

So don't hold back. I want this to be a church that

bumps into a lost cause and says you can come to church, you can

come to my church and you can sit with me and that we would be

a group of people that take joy and sitting amidst what other

people would call lost causes. But we proudly oh no that's

exactly where I want to be because that's where Jesus is

You notice. Jesus, just hopped on a boat

came over interact with the demon-possessed, man, and then

got back on the boat. It's all he wanted to do.

There's a demon-possessed man over there and I'd love, I'd

love to spend some time with him.

Those of us who are Christians, we need to be people that are

willing to spend time with people that others have called a

lost cause because we know there's no such thing.

Maybe some of you. You need to pray about the

situation you're in. It's so close to home, and

you've been seeing the problem, get big, and your Jesus somehow

has gotten smaller. You've been fighting the fight

for a really long time. You've been answering the phone

calls, you've been making the emergency trips for so long,

you're just worn out, and maybe you need to just get down on

your knees for the Lost Cause in your life in the Lost Cause and

your family and you need to just lift them up in prayer.

Maybe you need to lift yourself up and go God.

I'm just tired and I'm worn out. In my perspective has been jaded

over time, I need you to give me fresh eyes.

I need you to Kindle in my spirit, that you still move, and

you still heal, and you still change people.

I keep wondering. What could God do with the

church like that? All I know is it's only going to

happen if you do it and I do it because it's going to take

everyone to make this place that kind of place.

Would you join me? But stand Got them believe in

right now that you're going to do something special in our

hearts got to whether we get to see it or not.

We want to be a church that's committed to you.

That believes in you that chases after the people that you came

for. God, I can't imagine the amount

of pain and discouragement and frustration and hurt.

That's being carried by people in this room and online right

now. But God, I rejoice in the fact

that you are big enough to manage it.

All you're big enough to hear every prayer to pay attention to

every need that nothing escapes. You So, we got over these next

couple of songs. Would you just Have a genuine

encounter with all of us. Make it clear what we're

supposed to do. In your name.

I pray. Amen.